Small Skippers are insects of high summer.  Although they spend much of their time basking or resting among vegetation, they are marvellous flyers, manoeuvring expertly through tall grass stems.  It is these darting flights, wings glinting golden-brown in the sunlight, that normally alert an observer to their presence.  Closer examination will reveal many more individuals nectaring or basking with their wings held in the half-open posture distinctive of skipper butterflies.